Endpoint computing device multi-network slice remediation/productivity system

ABSTRACT

An endpoint computing device multi-network slice remediation/productivity system includes a core network system coupled to a RAN system and configured to allocate network slices and make them available for use in wireless communications via the RAN system. While operating in a pre-boot environment, an endpoint computing device determines that it is unable to transition to operating in a runtime environment and, in response, establishes a remediation network connection with a first network slice, and establishes a productivity network connection with a second network slice. While operating in a pre-boot environment and performing the remediation operations, the endpoint computing device then performs remediation operations via remediation wireless communications over the remediation network connection with the first network slice, and provides access to productivity application(s) that are configured to allow a user to perform productivity operations via productivity wireless communications over the productivity network connection with the second network slice.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to information handlingsystems, and more particularly to endpoint information handling systemsutilizing multiple network slices to perform both remediation operationsand productivity operations.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individualsand businesses seek additional ways to process and store information.One option available to users is information handling systems. Aninformation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores,and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or otherpurposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of theinformation. Because technology and information handling needs andrequirements vary between different users or applications, informationhandling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled,how the information is handled, how much information is processed,stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the informationmay be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in informationhandling systems allow for information handling systems to be general orconfigured for a specific user or specific use such as financialtransaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage,or global communications. In addition, information handling systems mayinclude a variety of hardware and software components that may beconfigured to process, store, and communicate information and mayinclude one or more computer systems, data storage systems, andnetworking systems.

Information handling systems such as, for example, server computingdevices, networking computing devices, storage systems, desktopcomputing devices, laptop/notebook computing devices, tablet computingdevices, mobile phones, and/or other computing devices known in the art,sometimes experience issues that prevent that computing device frombooting or otherwise initializing to provide an operating system on thecomputing device such that the computing device may enter a computingdevice runtime environment from a computing device pre-boot environment.In such situations, conventional computing device remediation systemsmay provide the computing device with the ability to access supportservices to attempt to remediate the issues with the computing devicewhile the computing device is in the computing device pre-bootenvironment.

For example, conventional computing device remediation systems maydetect when the computing device is unable to enter the runtimeenvironment (e.g., due to any of a variety of issues that prevent theoperating system from being provided) from the computing device pre-bootenvironment and, in response, may provide that computing device in aquarantined state while establishing a quarantine network connectionthat provides for limited networking operations (e.g., networkingoperations that may be limited to connecting to the support service.)The conventional computing device remediation system may then allow theuser to connect to the support service via the quarantine networkconnection, and operate with the support service to attempt to remediatethe issues occurring with the computing device so that the computingdevice may subsequently boot the operating system and enter the runtimeenvironment. However, such remediation operations can sometimes take asignificant amount of time during which the computing device isunavailable for use, and the limited networking operations allowed bythe quarantine network connection (and the limited operations allowed inthe quarantine state) do not allow for any uses of the computing deviceother than those associated with the remediation operations. As such,conventional computing device remediation systems may result insignificant downtime and/or unavailability of their computing devices inthe event remediation of issues associated with those computing deviceis required.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a computing deviceremediation system that addresses the issues discussed above.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, an Information Handling System (IHS)includes a processing system; and a memory system that is coupled to theprocessing system and that includes instructions that, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to provide a networkslice remediation/productivity engine that is configured, whileoperating in a pre-boot environment, to: determine an inability totransition to operating in a runtime environment and, in response:establish a remediation network connection with a first network sliceincluded in a plurality of network slices that are available via a RadioAccess Network (RAN) system; establish a productivity network connectionwith a second network slice included in the plurality of network slicesthat are available via the RAN system; perform, via remediation wirelesscommunications over the remediation network connection with the firstnetwork slice, remediation operations; and provide, via productivitywireless communications over the productivity network connection withthe second network slice while performing the remediation operations,access to at least one productivity application that is configured toallow a user to perform productivity operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an InformationHandling System (IHS).

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an endpointcomputing device that may be provided in the endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice utilization system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method forutilizing multiple network slices by an endpoint computing device.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a conventionalendpoint computing device network slice utilization system.

FIG. 6A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization system of FIG. 2operating during the method of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization system of FIG. 2operating during the method of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6C is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of the endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization system of FIG. 2operating during the method of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7A is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of an endpointcomputing device that may provide the endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice remediation/productivity system of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7B is a schematic view illustrating an embodiment of a networkslice remediation/productivity engine that may be provided in theendpoint computing device of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method forproviding for productivity with an endpoint computing device whileremediating issues with that endpoint computing device.

FIG. 9A is a schematic view of the endpoint computing device of FIGS. 7Aand 7B operating during the method of FIG. 8.

FIG. 9B is a schematic view of the endpoint computing device of FIGS. 7Aand 7B operating during the method of FIG. 8.

FIG. 9C is a schematic view of the endpoint computing device of FIGS. 7Aand 7B operating during the method of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system mayinclude any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operableto compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive,retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest,detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information,intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, or otherpurposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personalcomputer (e.g., desktop or laptop), tablet computer, mobile device(e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA) or smart phone), server (e.g.,blade server or rack server), a network storage device, or any othersuitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality,and price. The information handling system may include random accessmemory (RAM), one or more processing resources such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/orother types of nonvolatile memory. Additional components of theinformation handling system may include one or more disk drives, one ormore network ports for communicating with external devices as well asvarious input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse,touchscreen and/or a video display. The information handling system mayalso include one or more buses operable to transmit communicationsbetween the various hardware components.

In one embodiment, IHS 100, FIG. 1, includes a processor 102, which isconnected to a bus 104. Bus 104 serves as a connection between processor102 and other components of IHS 100. An input device 106 is coupled toprocessor 102 to provide input to processor 102. Examples of inputdevices may include keyboards, touchscreens, pointing devices such asmouses, trackballs, and trackpads, and/or a variety of other inputdevices known in the art. Programs and data are stored on a mass storagedevice 108, which is coupled to processor 102. Examples of mass storagedevices may include hard discs, optical disks, magneto-optical discs,solid-state storage devices, and/or a variety other mass storage devicesknown in the art. IHS 100 further includes a display 110, which iscoupled to processor 102 by a video controller 112. A system memory 114is coupled to processor 102 to provide the processor with fast storageto facilitate execution of computer programs by processor 102. Examplesof system memory may include random access memory (RAM) devices such asdynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), solid state memorydevices, and/or a variety of other memory devices known in the art. Inan embodiment, a chassis 116 houses some or all of the components of IHS100. It should be understood that other buses and intermediate circuitscan be deployed between the components described above and processor 102to facilitate interconnection between the components and the processor102.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an embodiment of an endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice utilization system 200 is illustrated. In theillustrated embodiment, the endpoint computing device multi-networkslice utilization system 200 includes a core network system 202. In anembodiment, the core network system 202 may be provided by the IHS 100discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/or may include some or allof the components of the IHS 100, and in specific examples may includeserver devices, switch devices, storage devices, and/or other corenetwork system components connected together to provide a 5G corenetwork system that may be operated by a wireless provider (e.g., AT&T®Mobility of Atlanta, Ga., United States; SPRINT® Corporation of OverlandPark, Kans., United States; VERIZON® Wireless of New York, N.Y., UnitedStates; etc.) and may include any combination of physical and/or virtualcomponents that are configured to provide 5G wireless communications.However, while illustrated and discussed as physical and/or virtualcomponents that provide 5G wireless communications, one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure will recognize that othercomponents and/or component configurations may be utilized in a corenetwork system to provide other wireless communications capabilities(e.g., 4G wireless communications) while remaining within the scope ofthe present disclosure as well.

In the illustrated embodiment, the endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice utilization system 200 also includes a Radio AccessNetwork (RAN) system 204. In an embodiment, the RAN system 204 may beprovided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/ormay include some or all of the components of the IHS 100, and mayinclude radio/cellular towers, base stations, antennas, core networkinterface devices, and/or any other RAN subsystems that would beapparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure. In a specific example, the RAN system 204 may be a 5G RANsystem including cellular towers that are configured to provide forwireless communications by endpoint computing devices utilizing networkslices/spectrum allocated by the 5G core network system discussed above.or example, the RAN system 204 may provide an orchestration layer forwireless communications between communication devices and cellulartowers, allowing wireless communications to then be exchanged by a RANcontroller in the RAN system 204 via a Software Defined Networking (SDN)switch device and a separate control-based interface, the separation ofwhich allows the RAN system 204 to be flexible and accommodate NetworkFunction Virtualization (NFV) techniques utilized in 5G communications.

Furthermore, the endpoint computing device multi-network sliceutilization system 200 also include a plurality of endpoint computingdevices 206 a, 206 b, 206 c, and up to 206 d, each of which may beprovided by the IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1, and/ormay include some or all of the components of the IHS 100. In a specificexample, the endpoint computing devices 206 a-206 d may be provided bymobile phones, tablet computing devices, laptop/notebook computingdevices, IoT computing devices, and/or any other endpoint computingdevices that would be apparent to one of skill in the art in possessionof the present disclosure. However, while a specific endpoint computingdevice multi-network slice utilization system 200 has been illustratedand described, one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure will recognize that the endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice utilization system of the present disclosure mayinclude a variety of components and component configurations whileremaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an embodiment of an endpoint computing device300 is illustrated that may provide any or all of the endpoint computingdevices 206 a-206 d discussed above with reference to FIG. 2. As such,the endpoint computing device 300 may be provided by the IHS 100discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or may include some or allof the components of the IHS 100, and in specific examples may beprovided by mobile phones, tablet computing devices, laptop/notebookcomputing devices, IoT computing devices, and/or any other endpointcomputing devices that would be apparent to one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure. Furthermore, while illustrated anddiscussed as an endpoint computing device 300, one of skill in the artin possession of the present disclosure will recognize that thefunctionality of the endpoint computing device 300 discussed below maybe provided by other devices that are configured to operate similarly asthe endpoint computing device 300 discussed below.

In the illustrated embodiment, the endpoint computing device 300includes a chassis 302 that houses the components of the endpointcomputing device 300, only some of which are illustrated below. Forexample, the chassis 302 may house a processing system (not illustrated,but which may include the processor 102 discussed above with referenceto FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated, but which may includethe memory 114 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1) that is coupledto the processing system and that includes instructions that, whenexecuted by the processing system, cause the processing system toprovide a network slice engine 304 that is configured to perform thefunctionality of the network slice engines and/or computing devicesdiscussed below. Furthermore, the memory system may also includeinstructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause theprocessing system to provide an application engine 305 that isconfigured to provide any or all of the applications discussed below asoperating on the endpoint computing device 300.

The chassis 302 may also house a storage system (not illustrated, butwhich may include the storage 108 discussed above with reference toFIG. 1) that is coupled to the network slice engine 304 (e.g., via acoupling between the storage system and the processing system) and thatincludes a network slice database 306 that is configured to store any ofthe information utilized by the network slice engine 304 discussedbelow. The chassis 302 may also house a communication system 308 that iscoupled to the network slice engine 304 and the application engine 305(e.g., via a coupling between the communication system 308 and theprocessing system) and that may be provided by a Network InterfaceController (NIC), wireless communication systems (e.g., cellularwireless components (e.g., 5G cellular wireless components, BLUETOOTH®components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, WiFi components,etc.), and/or any other communication components that would be apparentto one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure.However, while a specific endpoint computing device 300 has beenillustrated, one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure will recognize that endpoint computing devices (or otherdevices operating according to the teachings of the present disclosurein a manner similar to that described below for the endpoint computingdevice 300) may include a variety of components and/or componentconfigurations for providing conventional endpoint computing devicefunctionality, as well as the functionality discussed below, whileremaining within the scope of the present disclosure as well.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an embodiment of a method 400 for utilizingmultiple network slices for an endpoint computing device is illustrated.As discussed below, the systems and methods of the present disclosureprovide for the utilization of respective network slices for differentfunctionality (e.g., different applications, different workloads, etc.)provided on any particular endpoint computing device. For example, acore network system that is coupled to a RAN system may allocate aplurality of a network slices and make each of the plurality of networkslices available for use in wireless communications via the RAN system.An endpoint computing device may include first and second applicationsthat are configured to operate on the endpoint computing device, and theendpoint computing device may detect each of the first application andthe second application, determine a first networking connectivityrequirement for the first application, and determine a second networkingconnectivity requirement for the second application. The endpointcomputing device may then identify a first network slice that isallocated by the core network system, available via the RAN system, andthat satisfies the first networking connectivity requirement for thefirst application. The endpoint computing device may also identify asecond network slice that is allocated by the core network system,available via the RAN system, and that satisfies the second networkingconnectivity requirement for the second application. Then endpointcomputing device then establishes a first connection for the firstapplication with the first network slice, and establishes a secondconnection for the second application with the second network slice.Subsequently, the first application may exchange first communicationsvia the RAN system and the core network system using the first networkslice, and the second application may exchange second communications viathe RAN system and the core network system using the second networkslice. As such, network slicing is extended to general purpose endpointcomputing devices running applications (or workloads) with differentnetworking connectivity requirements by providing for the utilization ofa respective network slice by each of those applications, thusoptimizing the networking connectivity of the general purpose endpointcomputing device on a per-application/per-workload/per functionalitybasis.

With reference to FIG. 5, an embodiment of conventional endpointcomputing device network slicing functionality using the endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization system 200 of FIG. 2 isillustrated for purposes of discussion and to contrast the endpointcomputing device multi-network slice functionality of the presentdisclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the core network system 202 (e.g.,a 5G core network system) may operate to allocate network slices andmake those network slices available to via the RAN system 204 (e.g., a5G RAN system) for use in wireless communications. For example, arrowsare provided within the core network system 202 in FIG. 5 to representportions of spectrum that are available to the core network system 202,including a spectrum portion 500, a spectrum portion 502, and a spectrumportion 504 in the illustrated embodiment.

Furthermore, the allocation of network slices and the making of thosenetwork slices available via the RAN system 204 for use in wirelesscommunications by the core network system 202 is illustrated in FIG. 5by arrows provided in the RAN system 204, and may include the corenetwork system 202 allocating a network slice 500 a from the spectrumportion 500 (as illustrated by the arrow between the spectrum portion500 and the network slice 500 a), allocating a network slice 502 a fromthe spectrum portion 502 (as illustrated by the arrow between thespectrum portion 502 and the network slice 502 a), and allocatingnetwork slices 504 a and 504 b from the spectrum portion 504 (asillustrated by the respective arrow between the spectrum portion 504 andthe network slices 504 a and 504 b). One of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure would recognize that the allocationof network slices by a core network system, and the making of thosenetwork slices available by the core network system via a RAN system,may include a variety of conventional operations, and thus is notdescribed herein in detail. Furthermore, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will appreciate that each networkslice 500 a, 502 a, 504 a, and 504 b may provide particular networkingcharacteristics including particular data transmission latency,particular data transmission throughput/bandwidth, particular datatransmission reliability, other particular Quality of Service (QoS)characteristics, and/or other particular networking characteristics thatwould be apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure.

As also illustrated in FIG. 5, each of the endpoint computing devices206 a-206 d may then operate to connect to a respective network slice inorder to utilize that network slice for exchanging wirelesscommunications via the RAN system 204 and the core network system 202(i.e., wireless communications with other endpoint computing devicescoupled to the RAN system 204, other endpoint devices coupled to anetwork that is coupled to the core network system 202, etc.) One ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure would recognizethat the connection to a network slice by an endpoint computing device,and the exchange of communications via a RAN system and core networksystem by that endpoint computing device using that network slice, mayinclude a variety of conventional operations, and thus is not describedherein in detail. As discussed above, the conventional endpointcomputing device network slicing illustrated in FIG. 5 and describedabove tends to work well for “single-function” computing devices such asIoT computing devices (e.g., IoT power meter devices), autonomousdriving computing device, factory automation computing devices, and/orother single-function endpoint computing devices known in the art thatinclude particular networking connectivity requirements, as thenetworking characteristics of a single network slice to which anendpoint computing device conventionally connects do not substantiallychange during the networking session associated with that connection.

However, the conventional endpoint computing device network slicingillustrated in FIG. 5 and described above introduces inefficiencies whenutilized with general purpose endpoint computing devices such aslaptop/notebook computing devices, tablet computing devices, and mobilephones that provide multiple functions (e.g., via multiple applicationsoperating on those general purpose endpoint computing devices), as theconventional provisioning of a conventional network slice withnetworking characteristics that satisfy a particular networkingconnectivity requirement to such general purpose endpoint computingdevices will often result in a networking connection that is non-optimalfor at least some of the functionality provided by the general purposeendpoint computing device (e.g., at least some of the applications orworkloads operating on the general purpose endpoint computing device.)As described below, the endpoint computing device multi-network sliceutilization systems and methods of the present disclosure remedy suchinefficiencies by allowing multiple separate endpoint computing devicefunctionalities provided by a single endpoint computing device (e.g.,applications, workloads, etc.) to each connect to and utilize arespective network slice that includes networking characteristics thatsatisfy the networking connectivity requirements of that endpointcomputing device functionality.

The method 400 begins at block 402 where an endpoint computing devicedetects applications. In the specific example provided below, the method400 is described as being performed by the endpoint computing device 206a. However, one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure will appreciate that the method 400 may be performed by anyor all of the endpoint computing devices 206 a-206 d at the same (ordifferent) times while remaining within the scope of the presentdisclosure as well. In an embodiment, at block 402, the applicationengine(s) 305 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate toprovide one or more applications for operation on the endpoint computingdevice 206 a/300. For example, at block 402, the application engine(s)305 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to provide avideo communication application, an audio communication application, avideo streaming application, an office productivity application, agaming application, and/or any other applications that would be apparentto one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure. Aswould be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure, the applications provided at block 402 may operateto provide (or be replaced by) workloads operating on the endpointcomputing device(s), as well as any other endpoint computing devicefunctionality that one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure would recognize that benefitting from the dedicated networkslices functionality described below.

As such, in an embodiment of block 402, the network slice engine 304 inthe endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to detect theapplications provided by the application engine(s) 305. For example, atblock 402, the network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device206 a/300 may detect the applications provided by the applicationengine(s) 305 and operating on the endpoint computing device 206 a/300in response to the launching of those applications, in response torespective network connection requests received from those applications,and/or in response to any other application detection event that wouldbe apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure. As such, continuing with the specific example providedabove, at block 402, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may detect a video communication application,an audio communication application, a video streaming application, anoffice productivity application, and/or a gaming application provided onthe endpoint computing device 206 a/300. However, while the method 400is described as detecting applications at block 402, one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure will appreciate howworkloads and/or other functionality provided on the endpoint computingdevice 206 a/300 may be detected at block 402 while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure as well.

The method 400 then proceeds to block 404 where the endpoint computingdevice determines networking connectivity requirements for the detectedapplications. In an embodiment, at block 404, the network slice engine304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to determinea networking connectivity requirement for each of the applicationsdetected at block 402. In an embodiment, the determination of thenetworking connectivity requirements for an application by the networkslice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may includethe application engine 305, which is providing an application,transmitting the networking connectivity requirements for thatapplication to the network slice engine 304 (e.g., as IP headerinformation in a data packet); the network slice engine 304 retrievingthe networking connectivity requirements for an application (e.g., inresponse to the detection of that application) that may have beenpreviously determined and stored in the network slice database 306 fromthe network slice database 306; and/or via any other networkingconnectivity requirement determination technique that would be apparentto one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure.

Continuing with the specific example provided above, at block 404, thenetwork slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 mayoperate to determine networking connectivity requirements for a videocommunication application detected at block 402 that includes arelatively high bandwidth networking connectivity requirement, arelatively low latency networking connectivity requirement, and arelatively high reliability networking connectivity requirement.Similarly, at block 404, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may operate to determine networkingconnectivity requirements for an audio communication applicationdetected at block 402 that includes a relatively low bandwidthnetworking connectivity requirement, a relatively low latency networkingconnectivity requirement, and a relatively high reliability networkingconnectivity requirements. Similarly, at block 404, the network sliceengine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate todetermine networking connectivity requirements for a video streamingapplication detected at block 402 that includes a relatively highbandwidth networking connectivity requirement, a relatively intermediatelatency networking connectivity requirement, and a relativelyintermediate reliability networking connectivity requirement.

Similarly, at block 404, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may operate to determine networkingconnectivity requirements for an office productivity applicationdetected at block 402 that includes a relatively intermediate bandwidthnetworking connectivity requirement, a relatively low latency networkingconnectivity requirement, and a relatively low reliability networkingconnectivity requirements. Similarly, at block 404, the network sliceengine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate todetermine networking connectivity requirements for a gaming applicationdetected at block 402 that includes a relatively very high bandwidthnetworking connectivity requirement, a relatively very high latencynetworking connectivity requirement, and a relatively very highreliability networking connectivity requirement. However, while a fewspecific examples are provided, one of skill in the art in possession ofthe present disclosure will appreciate how different applications,workloads, and/or functionalities operating on and/or provided by anendpoint computing devices may include a variety of different networkingconnectivity requirements, and that any of those networking connectivityrequirements may be determined at block 404 while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure as well.

Furthermore, in different embodiments, any particular application,workload, and/or functionality operating on the endpoint computingdevice 206 a/300 may include multiple application subsystems, workloadsubsystems, and/or functionality subsystems that have differentnetworking connectivity requirements (e.g., an application operating onthe endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may include a first applicationsubsystem having a first networking connectivity requirement, a secondapplication subsystem having a second networking connectivityrequirement, and so on), and those applications subsystems, workloadsubsystems, and/or functionality subsystems may be detected at block 402and their different networking connectivity requirements determined atblock 404. Further still, in some embodiments, multiple applicationsoperating on the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may include thesame networking connectivity requirement (or respective networkingconnectivity requirements that fall within a particular networkingconnectivity requirement range) and, as such, those applications may bedetected, the networking connectivity requirements of those applicationsmay be determined, and those applications may be grouped in anapplication container that is associated with networking connectivityrequirement (or networking connectivity requirement range) of thoseapplications. Yet, further still, while the grouping of applicationswith the same or similar networking connectivity requirements into anapplication container is described as being performed during the method400, the application containers discussed above as being associated withan networking connectivity requirement or networking connectivityrequirement range may be determined prior to the method 400, stored inthe network slice database 306, and identified at block 404 from thatnetwork slice database 306 while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure as well.

The method 400 then proceeds to block 406 where the endpoint computingdevice identifies network slices that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements for the detected applications. In anembodiment, at block 406, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may operate to identify a respective networkslice that satisfies each networking connectivity requirement determinedfor each of the applications at block 404. With reference to FIG. 6A,the core network system 202 (e.g., a 5G core network system) may operateto allocate network slices and make those network slices available tovia the RAN system 204 (e.g., a 5G RAN system) for use in wirelesscommunications. For example, arrows are provided in the core networksystem 202 in FIG. 6A to represent portions of spectrum that isavailable to the core network system 202, including a spectrum portion600, a spectrum portion 602, and a spectrum portion 604 in theillustrated embodiment.

Furthermore, the allocation of network slices and the making of thosenetwork slices available via the RAN system 204 for use in wirelesscommunications by the core network system 202 is illustrated in FIG. 6Aby arrows provided in the RAN system 204, and may include the corenetwork system 202 allocating a network slice 600 a from the spectrumportion 600 (as illustrated by the arrow between the spectrum portion600 and the network slice 600 a), allocating a network slice 602 a fromthe spectrum portion 602 (as illustrated by the arrow between thespectrum portion 602 and the network slice 602 a), and allocatingnetwork slices 604 a and 604 b from the spectrum portion 604 (asillustrated by the respective arrow between the spectrum portion 604 andthe network slices 604 a and 604 b). One of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure would recognize that the allocationof network slices by a core network system, and the making of thosenetwork slices available by the core network system via a RAN system,may include a variety of conventional operations, and thus is notdescribed herein in detail. Furthermore, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will appreciate that each networkslice 600 a, 602 a, 604 a, and 604 b may provide particular networkingcharacteristics including particular data transmission latency,particular data transmission throughput/bandwidth, particular datatransmission reliability, other particular QoS networkingcharacteristics, and/or other particular networking characteristics thatwould be apparent to one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure

In some embodiments, each network slice allocated by the core systemnetwork system 202 and made available via the RAN system 204 by the corenetwork system 202 may be configured to identify the particularnetworking characteristics provided by that network slice. For example,each of the network slices 500 a, 502 a, 504 a, and 504 b may beconfigured to advertise its networking characteristics such that thenetwork slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 mayidentify the networking characteristics of each network slice that isavailable for connection to the endpoint computing device 206 a/300.FIG. 6B illustrates how the network slice 600 a may advertise itsnetworking characteristics 606 to the endpoint computing device 206 a(illustrated via a dashed arrow in FIG. 6B), the network slice 602 a mayadvertise its networking characteristics 608 to the endpoint computingdevice 206 a (illustrated via a dashed arrow in FIG. 6B), the networkslice 604 a may advertise its networking characteristics 610 to theendpoint computing device 206 a (illustrated via a dashed arrow in FIG.6B), and the network slice 604 b may advertise its networkingcharacteristics 610 to the endpoint computing device 206 a (illustratedvia a dashed arrow in FIG. 6B). One of skill in the art in possession ofthe present disclosure will appreciate that the dashed arrows in FIG. 6Bmay indicate the retrieval of the networking characteristics 606, 608,610, and 612 by the network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computingdevice 206 a/300 via the network slice advertisements discussed above.In a specific example, any particular network slice may identify itsnetworking characteristics via a network slice identifier, a networkslice name, a network slice data traffic QoS (e.g., default/best effort,video streaming best effort, enterprise high priority, etc.), and/or acode (e.g., 0x00, 0x1A, 0X12, etc.).

As such, at block 406, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may identify the latency networkingcharacteristics, the throughput/bandwidth networking characteristics,the reliability networking characteristics, other QoS networkingcharacteristics, and/or any other networking characteristics provided byeach of the network slices 600 a, 602 a, 604 a, and 604 b. Furthermore,while a particular technique for identifying networking characteristicsof a network slice have been described, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will appreciate that othertechniques for identifying networking characteristics of a network slicemay fall within the scope of the present disclosure as well. In aspecific example, a RAN controller in the RAN system 204 may inform theendpoint computing device about the number of network slices availableto that endpoint computing device from the RAN system, and the QoSnetworking characteristics associated with each network slice, whichallows the endpoint computing device to associate the data trafficprovided by each application or workload operating on that endpointcomputing device with a network slice that satisfies its networkconnectivity requirements, as discussed below.

Thus, at block 406, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may identify a respective one of the networkslices 206 a-206 d that includes networking characteristics that satisfythe networking connectivity requirements of each of the applicationsdetected at block 402. Continuing with the example provided above, atblock 406 the network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device206 a/300 may identify a network slice that includes networkingcharacteristics that satisfy the networking connectivity requirementsfor a video communication application detected at block 402 thatincludes a relatively high bandwidth networking connectivityrequirement, a relatively low latency networking connectivityrequirement, and a relatively high reliability networking connectivityrequirement. Similarly, at block 406 the network slice engine 304 in theendpoint computing device 206 a/300 may identify a network slice thatincludes networking characteristics that satisfy networking connectivityrequirements for an audio communication application detected at block402 that includes a relatively low bandwidth networking connectivityrequirement, a relatively low latency networking connectivityrequirement, and a relatively high reliability networking connectivityrequirements. Similarly, at block 406 the network slice engine 304 inthe endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may identify a network slicethat includes networking characteristics that satisfy determinenetworking connectivity requirements for a video streaming applicationdetected at block 402 that includes a relatively high bandwidthnetworking connectivity requirement, a relatively intermediate latencynetworking connectivity requirement, and a relatively intermediatereliability networking connectivity requirement.

Similarly, at block 406 the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may identify a network slice that includesnetworking characteristics that satisfy networking connectivityrequirements for an office productivity application detected at block402 that includes a relatively intermediate bandwidth networkingconnectivity requirement, a relatively low latency networkingconnectivity requirement, and a relatively low reliability networkingconnectivity requirements. Similarly, at block 406 the network sliceengine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may identify anetwork slice that includes networking characteristics that satisfynetworking connectivity requirements for a gaming application detectedat block 402 that includes a relatively very high bandwidth networkingconnectivity requirement, a relatively very high latency networkingconnectivity requirement, and a relatively very high reliabilitynetworking connectivity requirement.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, at block 406 the network slice engine304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may identify respectivenetwork slices that include respective networking characteristics thatsatisfy different networking connectivity requirements for respectivemultiple application subsystems, workload subsystems, and/orfunctionality subsystems included in an application, workload, orfunctionality (e.g., a first network slice including first networkingcharacteristics that satisfy a first networking connectivity requirementfor a first application subsystem included in an application operatingon the endpoint computing device 206 a/300, a second network sliceincluding second networking characteristics that satisfy a secondnetworking connectivity requirement for a second application subsystemincluded in that application operating on the endpoint computing device206 a/300, and so on). Further still, in some embodiments, at block 406the network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300may identify a network slice that includes networking characteristicsthat satisfy the same networking connectivity requirement (or anetworking connectivity requirement range) for multiple applicationsthat have been grouped in an application container as discussed above.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure, the identification of respective network slices thatinclude networking characteristics that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements of each application operating on the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may include, for each application with aparticular networking connectivity requirement, the identification of anetwork slice that includes networking characteristics that are closestto those networking connectivity requirements, that fall within somerange of those networking connectivity requirements, and/or that one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure would recognizemake that network slice the most desirable of the network slices thatare available to the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 for providingthat connection for that application. Furthermore, one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure will appreciate thatsituations may arise in which no network slices are available thatinclude networking characteristics that satisfy the network connectivityrequirements of an application and, in such situations, the networkslice that includes networking characteristics that most closely satisfythe network connectivity requirements of that application may beidentified for providing the connection for that application.

In some embodiments, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may be configured to request network sliceswith particular networking characteristics that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements of applications detected to block 402. Forexample, after determining the networking connectivity requirements foran application at block 404, the network slice engine 304 in theendpoint computing device 206 a/300 may transmit a network slice requestcommunication via the RAN system 204 to the core network system 202(e.g., via an available connection to the core network system 202 thatmay have been previously established using conventional techniquesand/or the techniques described herein), with that network slice requestcommunication providing a request to allocate a network slice havingnetworking characteristics that satisfy the network connectivityrequirements of the application, and make that network slice availablevia the RAN system 204. As such, the core network system 202 may receivethat network slice request and, in response, may allocate a networkslice having the requested network connectivity requirements, and makethat network slice available via the RAN system 204 so that the networkslice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may identifythat network slice at block 406.

The method 400 then proceeds to block 408 where the endpoint computingdevice establishes connections for the detected applications with therespective network slices identified for those applications. In anembodiment, at block 408, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may operate to establish a respectiveconnection for each application operating on the endpoint computingdevice 206 a/300 with the network slice that was identified at block 406as including networking characteristics that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements of that application. For example, at block408, the network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206a/300 may, for each application for which it identified a network sliceat block 406, present that application as a virtual endpoint computingdevice in network slice connection communications exchanged with the RANsystem 204, with the network slice communications operating to establisha connection between that application and the network slice that wasidentified for that application at block 406. As will be appreciated byone of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, thenetwork slice communications and/or establishment of the connectionbetween the network slice and the application that is presented as avirtual endpoint computing device may be similar to conventional networkslice/physical endpoint device communications and/or connectionestablishment, with the exception of the application being presented asa virtual endpoint computing device in the network slice connectioncommunications and/or connection establishment, and thus are notdescribed herein in detail.

As such, with reference to FIG. 6C, at block 408, the network sliceengine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may establish aconnection 614 for a first application operating on the endpointcomputing device 206 a with the network slice 600 a that was identifiedas having networking characteristics that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements determined for the first application,establish a connection 616 for a second application operating on theendpoint computing device 206 a with the network slice 602 a that wasidentified as having networking characteristics that satisfy thenetworking connectivity requirements determined for the secondapplication, and establish a connection 618 for a third applicationoperating on the endpoint computing device 206 a with the network slice604 a that was identified as having networking characteristics thatsatisfy the networking connectivity requirements determined for thethird application. While not illustrated, as discussed above one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will appreciatethat connections with multiple network slices for each applicationoperating on any or all of the endpoint computing devices 206 b-206 cmay be established in a similar manner while remaining within the scopeof the present disclosure as well.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, at block 408 the network slice engine304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may establish connectionsfor respective multiple application subsystems, workload subsystems,and/or functionality subsystems included in an application, workload, orfunctionality with respective network slices that include respectivenetworking characteristics that satisfy their different networkingconnectivity requirements (e.g., establishing a first connection with afirst network slice including first networking characteristics thatsatisfy a first networking connectivity requirement for a firstapplication subsystem included in an application operating on theendpoint computing device 206 a/300, establishing a second connectionwith a second network slice including second networking characteristicsthat satisfy a second networking connectivity requirement for a secondapplication subsystem included in that application operating on theendpoint computing device 206 a/300, and so on). Further still, in someembodiments, at block 408 the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may establish a connection with a networkslice that includes networking characteristics that satisfy the samenetworking connectivity requirement (or a networking connectivityrequirement range) for multiple applications that have been grouped inan application container. As such, one of skill in the art in possessionof the present disclosure will appreciate that any single endpointcomputing device may appear to the RAN system 204 and/or the corenetwork system 202 as many (e.g., tens, hundreds, or more) endpointcomputing devices due to the many applications operating on that singleendpoint computing device being presented as respective virtual endpointcomputing devices.

The method 400 then proceeds to block 410 where the endpoint computingdevice exchanges communications for the detected applications using theidentified network slices. In an embodiment, at block 410,communications may be exchanged between for each application using theconnection established with its respective network slice that satisfiesits respective networking connectivity requirements. As such, withreference to FIG. 6C, at block 410, the network slice engine 304 in theendpoint computing device 206 a/300 may utilize its communication system308 to exchange communications via the connection 614 with the networkslice 600 a for the first application operating on the endpointcomputing device 206 a (e.g., with a device coupled to the RAN system204, a device coupled to the core network system 202 via a network,etc.), may utilize its communication system 308 to exchangecommunications via the connection 616 with the network slice 602 a forthe second application operating on the endpoint computing device 206 a(e.g., with a device coupled to the RAN system 204, a device coupled tothe core network system 202 via a network, etc.), and may utilize itscommunication system 308 to exchange communications via the connection618 with the network slice 602 a for the third application operating onthe endpoint computing device 206 a (e.g., with a device coupled to theRAN system 204, a device coupled to the core network system 202 via anetwork, etc.) As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure, the exchange of communications viaa connection with a network slice at block 410 may be similar toconventional network slice communication exchanges, with the exceptionof that multiple applications operating on the endpoint computing device206 a/300 may be exchanging communications via their respectiveconnections with their respective network slices that each includerespective networking characteristics that satisfy the networkingconnectivity requirements of those applications. As discussed below,each of the network slices provided by the core network system 202 areisolated from each other and, as such, any application or workload thatis operating on an endpoint computing device and that is utilizing aparticular network slice will be unaware of the other networks availablevia the other network slices being utilized by other applications orworkloads operating on that same endpoint computing device.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, at block 408 the network slice engine304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to exchangecommunications for respective multiple application subsystems, workloadsubsystems, and/or functionality subsystems included in an application,workload, or functionality via connections provided with respectivenetwork slices (e.g., exchanging communications via a first connectionwith a first network slice for a first application subsystem included inan application operating on the endpoint computing device 206 a/300,exchanging communications via a second connection with a second networkslice for a second application subsystem included in that applicationoperating on the endpoint computing device 206 a/300, and so on).Further still, in some embodiments, at block 408 the network sliceengine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may exchangecommunications via a connection with a network slice for multipleapplications that have been grouped in an application container asdiscussed above.

The method 400 then proceeds to decision block 412 where it isdetermined whether a detected application is unavailable. In anembodiment, at decision block 412, the network slice engine 304 in theendpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to determine whether anapplication for which a respective connection was established with arespective network slice has become unavailable. For example, anapplication, workload, or other functionality operating on the endpointcomputing device may complete, be shut down, and/or may otherwise becomeunavailable in a manner that does not utilize the network slice withwhich that application, workload, or other functionality was connectedat block 410. As such, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 206 a/300 may operate to continuously or periodicallyto monitor applications (or application subsystems in an application, orapplications grouped in an application container) for which a connectionwith a network slice was provided at block 408 to determine whether thatapplication (or application subsystem) has become unavailable or isotherwise not utilizing the network slice to which it was connected.However, while a specific technique for monitoring for the use of anetwork slice has been described, one of skill in the art in possessionof the present disclosure will appreciate that network slice utilizationmay be determined in a variety of other manners that will fall withinthe scope of the present disclosure as well.

If, at decision block 412, it is determined that no detectedapplications are unavailable, the method 400 returns to block 410. Assuch, in response to determining that each application (or applicationsubsystem in an application, or application grouped in an applicationcontainer) for which a connection with a network slice was establishedat block 408 is still utilizing that network slice, the method 400 mayloop to continue to exchange communications for applications using theconnections to their network slices at block 410, and monitor whetherany of those applications have become unavailable at decision block 412.If at decision block 406, it is determined that a detected applicationis not available, the method 400 proceeds to block 414 where theendpoint computing device ends the connection with the identifiednetwork slice for the unavailable detected application. In anembodiment, at block 414 and in response to determining that anapplication (or application subsystem in an application, or allapplications grouped in an application container) is no longer utilizinga connection to a network slice that was provided at block 408, thenetwork slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 mayend that connection with the network slice for that application (orapplication subsystem in an application, or application container), andrelease that network slice for use by other applications and/or endpointcomputing devices. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure, the ending of a connection with anetwork slice at block 414 may be similar to conventional connectionending operations, and thus is not described herein in detail. Themethod 400 may then loop to continue to exchange communications foravailable applications using the connections to their network slices atblock 410, monitor whether any of those applications have becomeunavailable at decision block 412, and end connections to network slicesthat are no longer being utilized.

In some embodiments, repeated performance of the method 400 may allowthe network slice engine 304 in the endpoint computing devices 300 toperform intelligent network slice operations based on learned behaviorof the endpoint computing device 300 and/or the applications providedthereon. For example, the network slice engine 304 in the endpointcomputing device 300 may monitor the use of applications on the endpointcomputing device 300, the time of such application use on the endpointcomputing device 300, locations of the endpoint computing device 300,and/or any other information that would be apparent to one of skill inthe art in possession of the present disclosure, and may subsequentlyutilize that information to reserve network slices that includenetworking characteristics that satisfy the networking connectivityrequirements of particular applications. As such, when an endpointcomputing device repeatedly operates a particular application at aparticular time and in a particular location that utilizes a particularnetwork slice that includes networking characteristics that satisfy itsnetworking connectivity requirements, the network slice engine 304 inthe endpoint computing device 300 may learn that behavior andsubsequently operate to reserve that network slice at the learnedreoccurring application use time for use by the learned application inthe learned location. However, while a specific intelligent networkslice operation is described, one of skill in the art in possession ofthe present disclosure will recognize that other intelligent networkslice operations may be performed that will fall within the scope of thepresent disclosure as well.

Thus, systems and methods have been described that provide for theutilization of respective network slices for different functionality(e.g., different applications, different workloads, etc.) provided onany particular endpoint computing device. For example, a 5G core networksystem that is coupled to a 5G RAN system may allocate a plurality of anetwork slices and make each of the plurality of network slicesavailable for use in wireless communications via the 5G RAN system. Anendpoint computing device may include first and second applications thatare configured to operate on the endpoint computing device, and theendpoint computing device may detect each of the first application andthe second application, determine a first networking connectivityrequirement for the first application, and determine a second networkingconnectivity requirement for the second application. The endpointcomputing device may then identify a first network slice that isallocated by the 5G core network system, available via the 5G RANsystem, and that includes networking characteristics that satisfy thefirst networking connectivity requirements for the first application.The endpoint computing device may also identify a second network slicethat is allocated by the 5G core network system, available via the 5GRAN system, and that includes networking characteristics that satisfythe second networking connectivity requirements for the secondapplication. The endpoint computing device then establishes a firstconnection for the first application with the first network slice, andestablishes a second connection for the second application with thesecond network slice. Subsequently, the first application may exchangefirst communications via the 5G RAN system and the 5G core networksystem using the first network slice, and the second application mayexchange second communications via the 5G RAN system and the 5G corenetwork system using the second network slice. As such, network slicingis extended to general purpose endpoint computing devices runningapplications (or workloads) with different networking connectivityrequirements by connecting each of those applications (or workloads) toa respective network slice with networking characteristics that satisfyits networking connectivity requirements, thus optimizing the networkingconnectivity of the general purpose endpoint computing device on aper-application/per-workload/per functionality basis.

Referring now to FIGS. 7A and 7B, an embodiment of an endpoint computingdevice 700 is illustrated that may provide the endpoint computing devicemulti-network slice remediation/productivity system of the presentdisclosure, and in some embodiments may provide any or all of theendpoint computing devices 206 a-206 d discussed above with reference toFIG. 2. As such, the endpoint computing device 300 may be provided bythe IHS 100 discussed above with reference to FIG. 1 and/or may includesome or all of the components of the IHS 100, and in specific examplesmay be provided by server computing devices, networking computingdevices, storage systems, desktop computing devices, laptop/notebookcomputing devices, tablet computing devices, mobile phones, and/or othercomputing devices known in the art. Furthermore, while illustrated anddiscussed as a endpoint computing device, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will recognize that thefunctionality of the endpoint computing device 700 discussed below maybe provided by other devices that are configured to operate similarly asdiscussed below. In the illustrated embodiment, the endpoint computingdevice 700 includes a chassis 702 that houses the components of theendpoint computing device 700, only some of which are illustrated below.For example, the chassis 702 may house a processing system (notillustrated, but which may include the processor 102 discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 1) and a memory system (not illustrated, butwhich may include the memory 114 discussed above with reference toFIG. 1) that is coupled to the processing system and that includesinstructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause theprocessing system to provide a network slice remediation/productivityengine 704 that is configured to perform the functionality of thenetwork slice remediation/productivity engines and/or endpoint computingdevices discussed below. Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or allof the functionality of the endpoint computing device 300 of FIG. 3 andthe endpoint computing device 700 may be combined or otherwise providedin the same endpoint computing device such that a single endpointcomputing device is configured to perform any of the functionalitydescribed herein for the network slice remediation/productivity engine704 and the network slice engine 304.

As illustrated in FIG. 7B, in some embodiments, the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 may be provided by hardware 704 a,firmware 704 b, and/or in many examples, a Basic Input/Output System(BIOS) 704 c that may be included as part of, or provided by, thefirmware 704 b and which one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure will appreciate is utilized to perform initializationof the hardware 704 a when the endpoint computing device 700 isoperating in a pre-boot environment (as well as provide runtime servicesfor operating systems and/or other programs when the endpoint computingdevice 700 is operating in a runtime environment.) In a specificexample, the BIOS 704 c may include a BIOS processing system and a BIOSmemory system (e.g., as part of the hardware 704 a and/or firmware 704 bthat provide the BIOS 704 c) that includes instructions that, whenexecuted by the BIOS processing system, cause the BIOS processing systemto provide the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704.However, while the functionality of the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 is described below as being providedby the BIOS 704 c, that functionality may also be provided by otherfirmware subsystems or modules while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure as well. Furthermore, while described as a “BIOS”,one of skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure willappreciate that the BIOS 704 c may be replaced and/or otherwise providedby a Universally Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) system, and/orother initialization systems while remaining within the scope of thepresent disclosure as well.

Returning to FIG. 7A, the chassis 702 may also house a storage system(not illustrated, but which may include the storage 108 discussed abovewith reference to FIG. 1) that is coupled to the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 (e.g., via a coupling between thestorage system and the processing system) and that includes a networkslice remediation/productivity database 706 that is configured to storeany of the information utilized by the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 discussed below. The chassis 702 mayalso house a communication system 708 that is coupled to the networkslice remediation/productivity engine 704 (e.g., via a coupling betweenthe communication system 708 and the processing system) and that may beprovided by a Network Interface Controller (NIC), wireless communicationsystems (e.g., 5G cellular wireless components, BLUETOOTH®, Near FieldCommunication (NFC) components, WiFi components, etc.), and/or any othercommunication components that would be apparent to one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure. While a specific endpointcomputing device 700 has been illustrated, one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will recognize that endpointcomputing devices (or other devices operating according to the teachingsof the present disclosure in a manner similar to that described belowfor the endpoint computing device 700) may include a variety ofcomponents and/or component configurations for providing conventionalendpoint computing device functionality, as well as the functionalitydiscussed below, while remaining within the scope of the presentdisclosure as well.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an embodiment of a method 800 for providing forproductivity with an endpoint computing device while remediating issueswith that endpoint computing device is illustrated. As discussed below,the systems and methods of the present disclosure utilize some of thetechniques described above as being performed by the endpoint computingdevice multi-network slice utilization system 200 in order to performremediation operations while allowing productivity operations at thesame time on the same endpoint computing device via separate networkslices. For example, a core network system coupled to a RAN system isconfigured to allocate a plurality of a network slices and make each ofthe plurality of network slices available for use in wirelesscommunications via the RAN system, and when an endpoint computing devicedetermines that it is unable to transition from operating in a pre-bootenvironment to operating in a runtime environment, it establishes aremediation network connection with a first network slice included inthe plurality of network slices, and establishes a productivity networkconnection with a second network slice included in the plurality ofnetwork slices. The endpoint computing device then performs remediationoperations via remediation wireless communications over the remediationnetwork connection with the first network slice, and provide access toat least one productivity application that is configured to allow a userto perform productivity operations via productivity wirelesscommunications over the productivity network connection with the secondnetwork slice while performing the remediation operations. As such,endpoint computing devices that get “stuck” in a pre-boot environmentmay have their issues remediated while also allowing users of thoseendpoint computing devices to perform productivity operations until theremediation operations are complete.

The method 800 begins at block 802 where an endpoint computing deviceperforms initialization operations while operating in a pre-bootenvironment. In an embodiment, at or prior to block 802, the endpointcomputing device 700 may be powered on, reset, booted, and/or otherwiseinitialized such that the endpoint computing device 700 enters apre-boot environment. As will be understood by one of skill in the artin possession of the present disclosure, computing devices such asserver computing devices, networking computing devices, storage systems,desktop computing devices, laptop/notebook computing devices, tabletcomputing devices, and mobile phones discussed above, may perform avariety of initialization operations (e.g., boot operations) in order toinitialize that computing device so that it may enter a runtimeenvironment by, for example, providing an operating system for use onthe computing device by a user. Furthermore, as discussed above, theBIOS 704 c may be provided by one or more firmware modules that performhardware initialization during the initialization process (e.g., a bootprocess, a power-on startup process, etc.), and thus may operate toperform a variety of conventional initialization operations in someexamples of block 802 (e.g., by providing the first software module thatis run on the endpoint computing device 700 following power-on, reset,or boot, initializing and testing the hardware 704 a in the endpointcomputing device 700, and/or performing any of a variety of BIOSinitialization operations that would be apparent to one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure.) However, while a fewexamples have been provided, one of skill in the art in possession ofthe present disclosure will appreciate that endpoint computing devicesmay perform initialization operations while operating in a pre-bootenvironment in a variety of manners that will fall within the scope ofthe present disclosure as well.

The method 800 then proceeds to decision block 804 where it isdetermined whether the endpoint computing device is unable to transitionto a runtime environment. In an embodiment, at decision block 804, thenetwork slice remediation/productivity engine 704 in the endpointcomputing device 700 may operate to monitor the initializationoperations that are being performed while the endpoint computing device700 is operating in the pre-boot environment to determine whether theendpoint computing device 700 is unable to transition to a runtimeenvironment. For example, the BIOS 704 c may be configured to monitorthe initialization operations it is performing (as discussed above) inorder to determine whether the endpoint computing device 700 is unableto transition to a runtime environment. In some specific examples, adetermine of whether an endpoint computing device is unable totransition to a runtime environment may include a determination ofwhether an operating system that is configured to provide (at least inpart) the runtime environment for the endpoint computing device hasfailed to boot or otherwise initialize (e.g., due to corruption with theoperating system), that any of a variety of security issues (e.g.,defined by security policies stored in the network sliceremediation/productivity database 706) are preventing the endpointcomputing device from booting or otherwise initializing, that at leastsome hardware in the endpoint computing device is corrupted or otherwiseunavailable, and/or due to a variety of runtime environment transitionfailures that would be apparent to one of skill in the art in possessionof the present disclosure.

Furthermore, while a few specific example are provided above, one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure will appreciatethat other compliance issues may prevent server computing devices,networking computing devices, storage systems, desktop computingdevices, laptop/notebook computing devices, tablet computing devices,mobile phones, and/or other computing devices from initializing, andthose compliance issues may be associated with a failure of the endpointcomputing device to comply with network policies provided by a networkadministrator of a network to which the computing device belongs. Assuch, in addition to functional issues that may prevent endpointcomputing devices from initializing, network compliance issuesassociated with an otherwise properly functioning endpoint computingdevice may prevent those endpoint computing devices from transitioningto a runtime environment, and thus may be monitored at decision block804 as well.

If, at decision block 804, it is determined that the endpoint computingdevice is unable to transition to a runtime environment, the method 800proceeds to block 806 where the endpoint computing device establishes aremediation network connection with a first network slice. In anembodiment, at decision block 804, the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 in the endpoint computing device 700may determine that the endpoint computing device 700 is unable totransition to a runtime environment, and the method 800 may proceed toblock 806. For example, the BIOS 704 c may determine the endpointcomputing device 700 is unable to transition to a runtime environmentdue to an operating system that is configured to provide (at least inpart) the runtime environment for the endpoint computing device failingto boot or otherwise initialize (e.g., due to corruption with theoperating system), due to security issues (e.g., defined by securitypolicies stored in the network slice remediation/productivity database706) that are preventing the endpoint computing device from booting orotherwise initializing, due to at least some hardware in the endpointcomputing device being corrupted or otherwise unavailable, due tocompliance issues, and/or due to a variety of runtime environmenttransition failures that would be apparent to one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure. As will be appreciated by one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, in situationswhere at least some hardware in the endpoint computing device iscorrupted or otherwise unavailable, the method 800 may operate asdiscussed below as long as some minimal amount of hardware isuncorrupted or otherwise available that is capable of allowing theendpoint computing device to perform the functionality described below.

As such, in an embodiment of block 806, the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 in the endpoint computing device 700may operate to establish a remediation network connection with a firstnetwork slice. For example, the BIOS 704 c may perform some networkconnection establishment operations that are similar to those describedabove as being performed by the network slice engine 304 to establish aremediation network connection with a first network slice that wasallocated by the core network system 202 and made available via the RANsystem 204. Similarly as described above, the core network system 202(e.g., a 5G core network system) discussed above may operate to allocatenetwork slices and make those network slices available to via the RANsystem 204 (e.g., a 5G RAN system) for use in wireless communications.For example, similarly as discussed above with reference to the corenetwork system 202 in FIG. 5, the core network system 202 may allocateportions of spectrum (e.g., a first spectrum portion and a secondspectrum portion in the examples below) that are available to the corenetwork system 202. With reference to FIG. 9A, the allocation of networkslices and the making of those network slices available by the corenetwork system 202 via the RAN system 204 for use in wirelesscommunications is illustrated by arrows provided in the RAN system 204,and may include the core network system 202 allocating a network slice900 from the first spectrum portion, and allocating a network slice 902from the second spectrum portion. As discussed above, one of skill inthe art in possession of the present disclosure would recognize that theallocation of network slices by a core network system, and the making ofthose network slices available by the core network system via a RANsystem, may include a variety of conventional operations, and thus isnot described herein in detail.

As such, in an embodiment of block 806, the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 provided by the BIOS 704 c in theendpoint computing device 206 a/300 may perform some network connectionestablishment operations that are similar to those described above asbeing performed by the network slice engine 304 to establish theremediation network connection 904 with the network slice 900. As willbe appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure, in some embodiments, the identification of the network slice900 based on networking connectivity requirements for remediationoperations and networking characteristics of the network slice 900(i.e., similarly as discussed above for the identification of networkingconnectivity requirement for an application and networkingcharacteristics for a network slice) need not necessarily be performedduring the method 800, and thus at block 806 the network slice 900 maysimply be identified as an available network slice for the remediationnetwork connection 904 prior to establishing the remediation networkconnection 904 with the network slice 900. However, the performance ofnetwork slice identification based on networking connectivityrequirements for remediation operations and networking characteristicsof the network slice 900 will fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure as well.

Thus, at block 806, the network slice remediation/productivity engine704 provided by the BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206a/300 may identify itself, a BIOS subsystem (e.g., a networking modulein the BIOS 704 c), and/or some other functionality in the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 as a virtual endpoint computingdevice in network slice connection communications exchanged with the RANsystem 204, with the network slice communications operating to establishthe remediation network connection 904 with the network slice 900. Aswill be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure, the network slice communications and/orestablishment of the connection between the network slice 900 and theBIOS 704 c, BIOS subsystem, or other BIOS functionality that ispresented as a virtual endpoint computing device may be similar toconventional network slice/physical endpoint device communicationsand/or connection establishment, with the exception of the BIOS 704 c,BIOS subsystem, or other BIOS functionality being presented as a virtualendpoint computing device in the network slice connection communicationsand/or connection establishment, and thus are not described herein indetail.

The method 800 then proceeds to block 808 where the endpoint computingdevice establishes a productivity network connection with a secondnetwork slice. With reference to FIG. 9B, in an embodiment of block 808,the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704 provided by theBIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may perform somenetwork connection establishment operations that are similar to thosedescribed above as being performed by the network slice engine 304 toestablish a productivity network connection 906 with the network slice902. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession ofthe present disclosure, in some embodiments, the identification of thenetwork slice 902 based on networking connectivity requirements forproductivity operations and networking characteristics of the networkslice 902 (i.e., similarly as discussed above for the identification ofnetworking connectivity requirement for an application and networkingcharacteristics for a network slice) need not necessarily be performedduring the method 800, and thus at block 808 the network slice 902 maysimply be identified as an available network slice for the productivitynetwork connection 906 prior to establishing the productivity networkconnection 906 with the network slice 902. However, the performance ofnetwork slice identification based on the networking connectivityrequirements for productivity operations and networking characteristicsof the network slice 902 will fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure as well.

Thus, at block 808, the network slice remediation/productivity engine704 provided by the BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206a/300 may identify itself, a BIOS subsystem (e.g., a networking modulein the BIOS 704 c), and/or some other functionality in the network sliceremediation/productivity engine 704 as a virtual endpoint computingdevice in network slice connection communications exchanged with the RANsystem 204, with the network slice communications operating to establishthe productivity network connection 906 with the network slice 906. Aswill be appreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of thepresent disclosure, the network slice communications and/orestablishment of the connection between the network slice 902 and theBIOS 704 c, BIOS subsystem, or other BIOS functionality that ispresented as a virtual endpoint computing device may be similar toconventional network slice/physical endpoint device communicationsand/or connection establishment, with the exception of the BIOS 704 c,BIOS subsystem, or other BIOS functionality being presented as a virtualendpoint computing device in the network slice connection communicationsand/or connection establishment, and thus are not described herein indetail. Furthermore, as will be appreciated by one of skill in the artin possession of the present disclosure, the remediation networkconnection 904 and the productivity network connection 906 may beprovided as isolated connections via, for example, the isolation of thenetwork slice 900 and the network slice 902, and thus informationtransmitted over either of the remediation network connection 904 andthe productivity network connection 906 may not be accessible via theother connection. For example, data traffic provided on the networkslice 900 via the remediation network connection 904 may be routed via aquarantined zone provided by an enterprise that includes tools/softwarefor remediation, with remediation tools provided locally on the endpointcomputing device, and the network slice 900 also utilized to upload logsto the enterprise, while data traffic provided on the network slice 902via the productivity network connection 906 routed via a resultenterprise network (i.e., as if the endpoint computing deviceinitialized properly.)

The method 800 then proceeds to block 810 where the endpoint computingdevice performs remediation operations via remediation wirelesscommunications over the remediation network connection with the firstnetwork slice. In an embodiment, at block 810 and following theestablishment of the remediation network connection 904, the networkslice remediation/productivity engine 704 provided by the BIOS 704 c inthe endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may utilize the remediationnetwork connection 904 to connect to a support service system (notillustrated, but which may be provided by SUPPORT ASSIST®, a serviceoffered by DELL® Inc. of Round Rock, Tex., United States) that iscoupled to the core network system 202 via a network, and requestassistance from the support service system with any issues associatedwith the endpoint computing device 700 that are preventing itstransition from the pre-boot environment to the runtime environment. Inresponse, the support service system may utilize the remediation networkconnection 904 to provide a remediation module to the endpoint computingdevice 700, which may include any software that one of skill in the artin possession of the present disclosure would recognize as beingconfigured to perform the remediation operations discussed below, aswell as remediation module components such as, for example, an Internetbrowser and/or other remediation module components that would beapparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure.

As such, the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704 providedby the BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 mayinstall, provide, and/or otherwise utilize the remediation module atblock 810 in order configure the endpoint computing device 700 toperform remediation operations with the support service system, and thenbegin performing remediation operations for the endpoint computingdevice 700 at block 810, which may include allowing a technician usingthe support service system to log into the endpoint computing device 700(e.g., via the remediation network connection 904), allowing the runningof remediation scripts (e.g., PowerShell scripts) on the endpointcomputing device 700, retrieving logs from the endpoint computing device700, updating drivers on the endpoint computing device 700, and/or anyother remediation operations that would be apparent to one of skill inthe art in possession of the present disclosure. Furthermore, as will beappreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure, the remediation network connection 904 and remediationoperations discussed above may provide the endpoint computing device 700with limited functionality associated primarily with performance of theremediation operations, and thus may prevent a user of the endpointcomputing device 700 from performing non-remediation operations, limitnetwork connections by the endpoint computing device 700 (e.g., via theremediation network connection 904 to the support service system),and/or other limited functionality that would be apparent to one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure

The method 800 then proceeds to block 812 where the endpoint computingdevice provides access to at least one productivity application viaproductivity wireless communications over the productivity networkconnection with the second network slice. In an embodiment, followingthe establishment of the productivity network connection 906 at block808, the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704 provided bythe BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may utilizethe productivity network connection 906 at block 812 to connect to aproductivity service system (not illustrated) that is coupled to thecore network system 202 via a network, and request productivity servicesfrom the productivity service system. In response, the productivityservice system may utilize the productivity network connection 906 toprovide access to productivity services for the endpoint computingdevice 700, which may include any network accessible services that oneof skill in the art in possession of the present disclosure wouldrecognize as being configured to perform the productivity operationsdiscussed below.

As such, at block 812, the network slice remediation/productivity engine704 provided by the BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206a/300 may access one or more network-based productivity applicationsavailable via productivity network connection 906, which may include anetwork accessible operating system (e.g., a LINUX®-based operatingsystem), a network accessible productivity suite applications (e.g., theMICROSOFT OFFICE® productivity suite application), a network accessibleInternet browser application (e.g., a lightweight GOOGLE CHROME®Internet browser application), an network accessiblefile-sharing/storage application, and/or any other network-basedproductivity applications (e.g., “web applications”) that would beapparent to one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure. With reference to FIG. 9C, in some embodiments of block 812,the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704 provided by theBIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may access theproductivity service system via the productivity network connection 906,provide login credentials to authenticate to productivity servicesystem, and upon authentication may be provided access to a networkaccessible operating system 908 that is enabled via the BIOS 704 c andthat utilizes the productivity network connection 906 to allow use ofnetwork accessible productivity suite applications, a network accessibleInternet browser application, a file-sharing/storage application thatprovides access to database(s) including any documents and/or files thatmay have been previously created, modified, and/or otherwise worked onby a user of the endpoint computing device 700, and/or any otherproductivity functionality that would be apparent to one of skill in theart in possession of the present disclosure. One of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure will appreciate that the use of theproductivity applications may include the BIOS 704 c utilizing clients,modules, and/or other subsystems to enable that use (e.g., the use of aclient included on the BIOS 704 c to access those productivityapplications.) As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art inpossession of the present disclosure, the use of the network-basedproductivity application at block 812 may occur simultaneously with atleast some of the remediation operations being performed at block 810.

The method 800 then proceeds to decision block 814 where it isdetermined whether the endpoint computing device is able to transitionto the runtime environment. In an embodiment, at decision block 814, thenetwork slice remediation/productivity engine 704 provided by the BIOS704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300 may operate to monitorthe remediation operations that are being performed on the endpointcomputing device 700 while that endpoint computing device 700 is beingutilize to perform the productivity operations in order to determinewhether the remediation operations have addressed the issues with theendpoint computing device 700 that prevented the endpoint computingdevice 700 from transitioning from the pre-boot environment to theruntime environment. For example, the BIOS 704 c may be configured tomonitor the remediation operations it is performing (as discussed above)in order to determine whether the endpoint computing device 700 is nowable to transition to the runtime environment. In some specificexamples, a determine of whether an endpoint computing device is nowable to transition to the runtime environment may include adetermination of that an operating system that is configured to provide(at least in part) the runtime environment for the endpoint computingdevice will now allow booting or other initialization (e.g., due tocorruption with the operating system having been addressed), that any ofa variety of security issues (e.g., defined by security policies storedin the network slice remediation/productivity database 706) that werepreventing the endpoint computing device from booting or otherwiseinitializing have been addressed, that compliance issues have beenaddressed, and/or due to the addressing of any of a variety of runtimeenvironment transition failures that would be apparent to one of skillin the art in possession of the present disclosure. As will beappreciated by one of skill in the art in possession of the presentdisclosure, hardware issues (i.e., that still allow the method 800 to beperformed) may require the dispatching of installation of new hardwareon the endpoint computing device 700, and thus the method 800 may beperformed over several different power-on events for the endpointcomputing device 700 in order to allow a user to utilize the endpointcomputing device under the hardware issue is remediated via thereplacement of the hardware causing the issues.

If, at decision block 814, it is determined that the endpoint computingdevice is unable to transition to the runtime environment, the method800 returns to block 810. As such, the method 800 may loop to performremediation operations at block 810 while performing productivityoperations at block 812 until the endpoint computing device 700 is ableto transition to a runtime environment. As will be appreciated by one ofskill in the art in possession of the present disclosure, hardwareissues (i.e., that still allow the method 800 to be performed) mayrequire the dispatching of installation of new hardware on the endpointcomputing device 700, and thus the method 800 may be performed overseveral different power-on events for the endpoint computing device 700in order to allow a user to utilize the endpoint computing device underthe hardware issue is remediated via the replacement of the hardwarecausing the issues. If at decision blocks 804 or 814 it is determinedthat the endpoint computing device is able to transition to the runtimeenvironment, the method 800 proceeds to block 816 where the endpointcomputing device transitions to the runtime environment. In anembodiment, at block 816 and in response to determining that theendpoint computing device 700 is now able to transition to a runtimeenvironment, the network slice remediation/productivity engine 704provided by the BIOS 704 c in the endpoint computing device 206 a/300may cause the endpoint computing device 700 to transition to the runtimeenvironment by, for example, resetting, rebooting, and/or otherwiseinitializing the endpoint computing device 700 so that it may completeinitialization operations and enter the runtime environment.

Thus, systems and methods have been described that utilize endpointcomputing device multi-network slice utilization techniques in order toperform remediation operations while allowing productivity operations atthe same time on the same endpoint computing device via separate networkslices. For example, a 5G core network system coupled to a 5G RAN systemis configured to allocate a plurality of a network slices and make eachof the plurality of network slices available for use in wirelesscommunications via the 5G RAN system, and when an endpoint computingdevice determines that it is unable to transition from operating in apre-boot environment to operating in a runtime environment, itestablishes a remediation network connection with a first network sliceincluded in the plurality of network slices, and establishes aproductivity network connection with a second network slice included inthe plurality of network slices. The endpoint computing device thenperforms remediation operations via remediation wireless communicationsover the remediation network connection with the first network slice,and provide access to at least one productivity application that isconfigured to allow a user to perform productivity operations viaproductivity wireless communications over the productivity networkconnection with the second network slice while performing theremediation operations. As such, an endpoint computing device that is“stuck” in a pre-boot environment may utilize a first network slice tohave its issues remediated, while utilizing a second network slice toalso allow a user of that endpoint computing device to performproductivity operations until the remediation operations are complete.

Although illustrative embodiments have been shown and described, a widerange of modification, change and substitution is contemplated in theforegoing disclosure and in some instances, some features of theembodiments may be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims beconstrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of theembodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An endpoint computing device multi-network sliceremediation/productivity system, comprising: a Radio Access Network(RAN) system; a core network system that is coupled to the RAN systemand that is configured to allocate a plurality of a network slices andmake each of the plurality of network slices available for use inwireless communications via the RAN system; and an endpoint computingdevice that is configured, while the endpoint computing device isoperating in an endpoint computing device pre-boot environment, to:determine that the endpoint computing device is unable to transition tooperating in an endpoint computing device runtime environment and, inresponse: establish a remediation network connection with a firstnetwork slice included in the plurality of network slices; establish aproductivity network connection with a second network slice included inthe plurality of network slices; perform, via remediation wirelesscommunications over the remediation network connection with the firstnetwork slice, remediation operations; and provide, via productivitywireless communications over the productivity network connection withthe second network slice while performing the remediation operations,access to at least one productivity application that is configured toallow a user to perform productivity operations.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the determining that the endpoint computing device is unableto transition to operating in the endpoint computing device runtimeenvironment includes determining that the endpoint computing device isunable to initialize an operating system that is available on theendpoint computing device.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theperforming the remediation operations includes: receiving, from asupport service system via the remediation wireless communications, aremediation module; and installing the remediation module on theendpoint computing device, wherein the remediation module performs atleast some of the remediation operations via the remediation wirelesscommunications over the remediation network connection with the firstnetwork slice.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneproductivity application includes a network-based operating systemapplication.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first network sliceis isolated from the second network slice.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the endpoint device is configured to: configure, in response toperforming the remediation operations while the endpoint computingdevice is operating in the endpoint computing device pre-bootenvironment, the endpoint computing device to transition to operating inthe endpoint computing device runtime environment; and cause theendpoint computing device to transition from operating in the endpointcomputing device pre-boot environment to operating in the endpointcomputing device runtime environment.
 7. An Information Handling System(IHS), comprising: a processing system; and a memory system that iscoupled to the processing system and that includes instructions that,when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system toprovide a network slice remediation/productivity engine that isconfigured, while operating in a pre-boot environment, to: determine aninability to transition to operating in a runtime environment and, inresponse: establish a remediation network connection with a firstnetwork slice included in a plurality of network slices that areavailable via a Radio Access Network (RAN) system; establish aproductivity network connection with a second network slice included inthe plurality of network slices that are available via the RAN system;perform, via remediation wireless communications over the remediationnetwork connection with the first network slice, remediation operations;and provide, via productivity wireless communications over theproductivity network connection with the second network slice whileperforming the remediation operations, access to at least oneproductivity application that is configured to allow a user to performproductivity operations.
 8. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the determiningthe inability to transition to operating in the runtime environmentincludes determining an inability to initialize a local operatingsystem.
 9. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the performing the remediationoperations includes: receiving, from a support service system via theremediation wireless communications, a remediation module; andinstalling the remediation module, wherein the remediation moduleperforms at least some of the remediation operations via the remediationwireless communications over the remediation network connection with thefirst network slice.
 10. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the at least oneproductivity application includes a network-based operating systemapplication.
 11. The IHS of claim 7, wherein the first network slice isisolated from the second network slice.
 12. The IHS of claim 7, whereinthe network slice remediation/productivity engine is configured to:configure, in response to performing the remediation operations whileoperating in the pre-boot environment, an ability to transition tooperating in the runtime environment; and cause the a transition fromoperating in the pre-boot environment to operating in the runtimeenvironment.
 13. The IHS of claim 7, further comprising: a BasicInput/Output System (BIOS) that includes the memory system and theprocessing system, and that operates to provide the network sliceremediation/productivity engine.
 14. A method for providing forproductivity with an endpoint computing device while remediating issueswith that endpoint computing device, comprising: determining, by anendpoint computing device while operating in an endpoint computingdevice pre-boot environment, an inability to transition to operating inan endpoint computing device runtime environment and, in response:establishing, by the endpoint computing device, a remediation networkconnection with a first network slice included in a plurality of networkslices that are available via a Radio Access Network (RAN) system;establishing, by the endpoint computing device, a productivity networkconnection with a second network slice included in the plurality ofnetwork slices that are available via the RAN system; performing, by theendpoint computing device via remediation wireless communications overthe remediation network connection with the first network slice,remediation operations; and providing, by the endpoint computing devicevia productivity wireless communications over the productivity networkconnection with the second network slice while performing theremediation operations, access to at least one productivity applicationthat is configured to allow a user to perform productivity operations.15. The method of claim 14, wherein the determining the inability totransition to operating in the endpoint computing device runtimeenvironment includes determining an inability initialize an operatingsystem that is available on the endpoint computing device.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the performing the remediation operationsincludes: receiving, from a support service system via the remediationwireless communications, a remediation module; and installing theremediation module on the endpoint computing device, wherein theremediation module performs at least some of the remediation operationsvia the remediation wireless communications over the remediation networkconnection with the first network slice.
 17. The method of claim 14,wherein the at least one productivity application includes anetwork-based operating system application.
 18. The method of claim 14,wherein the first network slice is isolated from the second networkslice.
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising: configuring, bythe endpoint computing device in response to performing the remediationoperations while operating in the endpoint computing device pre-bootenvironment, an ability to transition to operating in the endpointcomputing device runtime environment; and transitioning, by the endpointcomputing device, from operating in the endpoint computing devicepre-boot environment to operating in the endpoint computing deviceruntime environment.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the endpointcomputing device includes a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) that.